Rest In Peace, Shawna Trpcic: A Look Back At The Late Costume Designer's Best Known Work

In sad news, beloved Television costume designer Shawna Trpcic passed away suddenly on October 4, 2023, at the age of just 56. Trpcic's death has lead to an outpouring of grief from directors, actors, and many others in the industry in which she worked.

Trpcic's favourite genres to work in were sci fi and fantasy, as those worlds are often new and without rules, leaving her the freedom to be creative with her designs. Her preference for these genres is strongly reflected in the body of work she has left behind.

Let's take a look at where you may have seen Shawna Trpcic's costumes.

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers

One of Shawna Trpcic's earliest TV jobs was working on costumes for the first forty episodes of the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers series. While Power Rangers became a massive popculture phenomenon on a similar level to the later iconic shows on which Trpcic would work, it was unfortunately not a project on which she could stretch her creative muscles.

Many of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers battle sequences were created through stock footage from the Japanese Super-Sentai series, Kyoryu Zyuranger. So, Trpcic's job was mostly to create replicas of the Zyuranger suits for when the American Rangers appeared unmasked, or the occasional piece of original footage. The show worked an a relatively low budget, so the replica suits, through no fault of the designer, were often made of poorer quality materials, or in the case of the Green Ranger, an entirely different shade of green than the Zyuranger original, resulting in occasionally disjointed footage.

Angel

Trpcic later worked on Angel, the Buffy The Vampire Slayer spin off series focused on Buffy's ex-lover Angel, the vampire cursed with a soul, as he opens a supernatural detective agency in Los Angeles. Angel is remembered for being darker in tone than it's parent series. With a range of human, vampire, and demon characters, Trpcic would have worked on a wide variety of costumes for the show.

Following Angel, Shawna Trpcic worked on another much-loved Joss Whedon series.

Firefly

Trpcic began gaining wider recognition for her work as the lead costume designer on Joss Whedon's now cult-classic Space Western, Firefly. Particularly memorable was her work on the episode 'Shindig', where a number of the series characters are out of their usual costumes, instead donning formal wear to attend a ball. Trpcic altered her own Wedding dress to serve as the ball gown worn by Morena Baccarin's character, Inara Serra, in the episode.

'Shindig' became the inspiration for a yearly Firefly fan event, the Browncoat Ball. In 2005, Shawna Trpcic sold off a number of Firefly costumes from her personal collection, most of which were purchased by fans who intended to wear them to the following year's Ball. Upon learning this, Trpcic attended the 2006 Browncoat Ball event, where she posed for pictures with the fans who had worn her costumes.

Trpcic went on to work on two more Joss Whedon prrojects, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and Dollhouse.

The Mandalorian, Seasons 2 & 3

While she did not work on the show in season one, Shawna Trpcic joined the team working on the now beloved Star Wars series The Mandalorian for it's second and third seasons. While the costumes of the series' existing major characters were already established, Trpcic had a major hand in designing the outfits for characters such as Bo-Katan Kryze and Ahsoka Tano, both making their live-action debuts. She received an Emmy nomination for her work on the show.

In a tribute posted after Trpcic's death, Emily Swallow, who plays the mysterious Armorer in the series, praised the late designer for her willingness to collaborate and ensure the comfort of the actors who wore her designs. While The Armorer's outfit already existed when Trpcic joined the show, she worked closely with Swallow to improve the fit of the character's gloves and trousers.

The Book of Boba Fett

Trpcic also worked on The Mandalorian's first spin-off, The Book of Boba Fett. She deeply researched costume designs from the original Star Wars trilogy, to ensure her own designs matched the feel of the Original Trilogy's Tattooine residents. She earned another Emmy nomination for her work on the show.

Ming-Na Wen, who plays Boba's new partner in crime Fennec Shand, befriended Trpcic while working on the series. Wen shared a sweet anecdote about Trpcic's kindness when crafting a costume for Wen's son, Cooper, who appeared as van extra in the show.

Ahsoka

The last major project Shawna Trpcic was known to have worked on before her sudden death was Ahsoka, which recently completed airing it's first season. As well as recreating the costumes of beloved animated characters such as Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla, and Grand Admiral Thrawn, Trpcic also created costumes for new characters destined to become icons, such as Baylan Skoll, Shin Hati, and the creepy but unique helmet of Captain Enoch. Many have Trpcic tipped for a posthumous Emmy nomination.

Rest In Peace, Shawna Trpcic. You will live on through the characters your costumes have helped bring to life.